Jerusalem Issue Brief
Institute for Contemporary Affairs
founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation

Vol. 8, No. 9 26 August 2008

Hizbullah's Role in Attacks Against U.S. and British Forces in Iraq

Jonathan Dahoah Halevi

Asharq Alawsat reported on August 18, 2008, that Hizbullah operatives were
involved in attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces in four Iraqi provinces.
In June 2006, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield
disclosed that Hizbullah cadres had attacked U.S.-led coalition forces in
Iraq. Hizbullah units claimed responsibility for operations against
coalition forces and Iraqi security personnel as early as the latter part of
2005.
A senior U.S. intelligence officer said that activists of the "Special
Groups" (Shiite terror cells in Iraq) undergo training and military
instruction administered by the Iranian Revolution Guards' Qods Force and
Lebanese Hizbullah at training camps in the cities of Qom, Tehran, Ahwaz,
and Mashad.
The official website of the Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq features scores of
video clips depicting the setting off of a number of sabotage charges in one
place; the use of two explosive charges in succession in order to harm
rescue forces as well; the use of mortars mounted on trucks in order to make
a quick getaway, and the launching of a shoulder-fired Strela missile
against helicopters.
Hizbullah's deep involvement in terror throughout Iraq demonstrates that the
organization does not view itself purely as a Lebanese factor with national
and local objectives, but as an arm of Iran in spreading the Shiite Islamic
Revolution throughout the Middle East and in the long term throughout the
entire world. Hizbullah's strategic ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guards
for the purpose of operations in Iraq once again illustrate how Iran, in
general, and its Revolutionary Guards, in particular, directly promote
international terrorism globally.

Britain Designates Hizbullah's Military Wing as Terror Group

The U.S. and Britain have increasingly singled out Hizbullah as one of the
most serious threats to coalition forces in Iraq. Asharq Alawsat reported on
August 18 that Hizbullah operatives were involved in attacks against U.S.
and Iraqi forces in four Iraqi provinces.1 British Home Office Minister Tony
McNulty announced on July 2 that Britain has included the military wing of
Hizbullah on its list of terror organizations. The import of the
announcement is that membership in or providing assistance to the military
wing of Hizbullah will be considered a criminal act. Prime Minister Gordon
Brown explained that London had received "new evidence" concerning
Hizbullah's involvement in Iraq and in areas under Palestinian jurisdiction.

The decision as reported does not apply to the political or social activity
of Hizbullah. However, the British minister noted that this decision
conveyed a clear message of condemnation for Hizbullah violence and the
assistance that the organization is providing for terror. "The military wing
of Hizbullah provides active assistance to militants in Iraq who are
responsible for attacks against coalition forces and Iraqi citizens,
including training in the use of roadside bombs," said McNulty, who added
that "the military wing of Hizbullah also provides assistance to Palestinian
terror groups in the occupied Palestinian territories such as, for example,
Islamic Jihad."2

Hizbullah Training Camps in Iraq and Iran

U.S. military and intelligence bodies have uncovered many details in the
past year regarding Hizbullah involvement in terror throughout Iraq. Relying
on a briefing by a senior U.S. intelligence officer, the Associated Press
reported on August 15, that the activists of the "Special Groups" (Shiite
terror cells in Iraq that split off from the Mahdi Army and circumvented the
cessation of hostilities called for by its head, Muqtada a-Sadr) undergo
training and military instruction administered by the Iranian Revolution
Guards' Qods Force and Lebanese Hizbullah at training camps in the cities of
Qom, Tehran, Ahwaz, and Mashad.3 The training includes
intelligence-gathering, use of light weaponry, basic combat training, terror
cell operations, the use of explosives for sabotage, and antitank fire,
including use of the RPG-29 launcher.

Lebanese Hizbullah members are particularly useful to Iran for training
Iraqis because both groups speak Arabic, while the Iranians speak Farsi.
Lebanese Hizbullah may also have additional credibility with Iraqi Shiites
because of what is viewed as their success. Hizbullah training was intended
to ready Iraqi Shiite operatives for assassination and terror attacks in
Iraq. According to Iraqi members of parliament and military figures,
Hizbullah trainers operated training camps in northern Iraq until April
2008, and were then forced to transfer to Iran due to Iraqi army activity
against the armed militias.4

Hizbullah Attacks Inside Iraq

Thus, Hizbullah does not only interface with Iraqi Shiite militias on
Iranian soil, but within Iraq itself. Indeed, Hizbullah units claimed
responsibility for operations against coalition forces and Iraqi security
personnel as early as the latter part of 2005.5 In June 2006, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield disclosed that Hizbullah
cadres had attacked U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.6 Hizbullah operations
chief Imad Mughniyeh had been tasked to organize Shiite militias in southern
Iraq already in 2005. Reportedly, he had been seen in Basra, facilitating
the movement of Iraqi Shiite militiamen from the Mahdi Army into Iran.7 He
was also responsible for establishing Hizbullah cells outside of Lebanon,
especially in Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

Testimony regarding the extent of Hizbullah involvement in terror throughout
Iraq has been gathered from the interrogation of prisoners by U.S. forces.
In August 2008, the U.S.-led Multinational Force-Iraq forces command
reported the arrest of nine activists from the Hizbullah Brigades in
Adhamiyah (Baghdad). One of them is suspected of operating a terror
organization in Basra and smuggling weaponry from Iran. Another activist is
suspected of involvement in launching missiles and mortar shells. War
materiel and electronic equipment were discovered at his home.8

Previously, information was divulged about the commander of a terror cell
who had undergone training in Iran. This activist trained sabotage experts
in Baghdad and was responsible for terror attacks against Iraqi and
coalition forces in Baghdad.9 Likewise, two activists from "the Hizbullah
Brigades in Iraq" were arrested. They carried out propaganda activities in
Baghdad on behalf of the organization, and in this framework they uploaded
video clips to the Internet documenting terror attacks against U.S.
forces.10 In September 2007 it was reported that U.S. forces had arrested a
Hizbullah activist from Lebanon who functioned as an emissary on behalf of
the Iranian Qods Force in Iraq.11

In his testimony before the Armed Services Committees of the Congress on
April 8, 2008, General David Petraeus, the commander of the multinational
forces in Iraq, reported that the Iranian Qods Force, with the assistance of
Lebanese Hizbullah's Department 2800, was training, arming and guiding the
"Special Groups" in Iraq.12 Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, head of the
Communications Division for the multinational forces in Iraq, also noted a
month previously that terror operatives arrested at the end of 2007 reported
they had undergone training in Iran directed by Hizbullah activists.13 Two
activists of Lebanese Hizbullah (one of them Abu Mousa Dukduk) operated in
the framework of the "Special Groups."14 U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan
Crocker said in August 2008 that the interrogations of Hizbullah activists
within the secret cells of the Mahdi Army (Jaish al-Mahdi) demonstrated the
deep involvement of Iran in terror attacks against coalition forces and
attempts by Iran to "create a Lebanonization or Hizbullahzation in parts of
southern Iraq."15

The official website of the Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq provided background
data on the organization and its patterns of operation. The organization
took credit for initiating terror attacks against coalition forces on
October 23, 2003, when it attacked a Hummer vehicle belonging to American
forces in Baghdad. The Hizbullah organization in Iraq operates a number of
"brigades." The Abu Fadel al-Abbas Brigade and the Karbala Brigade operate
in the area of Baghdad, while the Zayd bin Ali Brigade operates in the area
of the southern city of Basra. The prototypes of the terror attacks that the
organization carries out can be deduced from official press announcements
and scores of video clips the organization has disseminated that include:

The use of explosive charge theaters (setting off a number of sabotage
charges of various types in one place in order to increase the vulnerability
of armored vehicles and infantry forces).
The use of two explosive charges in succession in order to harm the rescue
forces as well.
The use of mortars mounted on trucks in order to make a quick getaway.
The use of heavy stationary mortars.
The launching of missiles mounted on separate launchers (one or two at a
time).
The massive launch of missiles (sometimes scores of missiles in a single
attack).
Sniper fire at soldiers and foot patrols.
Launching a shoulder-fired Strela missile against helicopters (the downing
of one American helicopter was documented on July 31, 2006).
The use of antitank launchers of the RPG-29 model with high armor
penetration capability.16

Hizbullah's Ideological Platform

The ideological platform of Hizbullah in Iraq is predicated on the Shiite
faith and the path of Imam Khomeini. It sets forth three fundamental
principles - "resistance, Jihad, liberation." The major avowed goal is the
removal of the "occupation" from Iraq. "From the very first minute our
objective was to defeat the occupation within Iraq and subsequently expel it
from Iraq, humiliated and defeated..The enemy will witness in the future
things that will cause him great pain and the loss of many soldiers.that he
has largely assembled from the back streets of New York, Texas and
Hollywood. We swear by Allah that we have chosen this path and we will not
abandon it until these invaders have been defeated." This statement appeared
on the group's official Internet site in an announcement regarding the
organization's objectives.

Another announcement on February 13, 2008, was devoted to the memory of Imad
Mughniyeh, the head of Hizbullah's military wing who was assassinated in
Damascus on the previous day. "We the Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq have sworn
to avenge his death and continue on the path of struggle and Jihad until the
removal of the Americans from the region," the "liberation of Palestine,"
and "the restoration of dignity and sovereignty to the Arab and Islamic
homeland."17 The Hizbullah Brigades also announced that any security
agreement that would be signed between the Iraqi government and the American
forces would be considered null and void and that Iraq had to adopt a policy
that defined the United States as a threat to the region, defended Islam,
and prevented any foreign control over its natural resources.18

Hizbullah has never concealed its support and sympathy for terror
organizations operating in Iraq. When the Fourth Congress in Support of the
Resistance was convened in Beirut on March 30, 2006, Hizbullah leader Hassan
Nasrallah supported "resistance" in Iraq and Palestine.19 Hizbullah
television station Al Manar provided ongoing coverage, surveying the terror
attacks that the Hizbullah Brigades were carrying out in Iraq.20

Summary and Implications

Hizbullah's deep involvement in terror throughout Iraq demonstrates that the
organization does not view itself purely as a Lebanese factor with national
and local objectives, but as an arm of Iran in spreading the Shiite Islamic
Revolution throughout the Middle East (the Shiite crescent) and in the long
term throughout the entire world. Over the last few decades, Hizbullah
branches have appeared in several Arab countries with substantial Shiite
populations like Bahrain, Kuwait, and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
The military arm of Hizbullah, as the British Home Office Secretary termed
it, is a dexterous arm of terror that is spreading its tentacles to various
countries in the West for the purpose of fundraising, recruitment and
establishing a network of sleeper terror cells to be activated by Tehran at
the appropriate time.

The distinction between the military wing of Hizbullah and the political or
social wing is an artificial distinction that is fundamentally flawed.
Hizbullah views all wings of its organization as parts of a single body that
are intended to achieve the identical strategic goal of spreading Islam and
waging constant war against the apostates until their defeat.
Decision-making on the military level is the purview of Hizbullah leaders
headed by Hassan Nasrallah. The major objective of Hizbullah's
social-educational network, as Nasrallah's deputy Naim Qassem has testified,
is to create a new generation that will follow the path of the Imam Hussein,
by "yearning for death in the love for Allah and craving for Jihad in the
path of Islam."21 In other words, the educational network of Hizbullah
serves as an assembly line for the brainwashing of the younger generation to
make them fit for their role as fighters prepared to serve as live bombs and
suicide terrorists in the struggle against the apostates.

Western countries as well as international organizations have been
collaborating with Hizbullah front groups and economic entities. Western aid
funds help reinforce the Hizbullah infrastructure in Lebanon that is
attempting to take over the country by exploiting the protection of
democracy, in order to establish an extremist Islamic Shiite regime, similar
to Iran, that will abolish democracy.

Hizbullah's Jihad al-Bina (Jihad for development) construction company is in
contact with European bodies and it receives funding, inter alia, from
Lebanese municipalities that are supported by the West. This organization
was apparently a partner in the establishment of Hizbullah's clandestine
military communications infrastructure and other projects set up in the
context of Hizbullah's attempts to establish the institutions of a "state
within a state" prior to its final takeover of the Lebanese government.

* * *

Notes
1. Ali Nourizadeh, "Iran's Revolutionary Guard to Train Iraqi Shiite
Youths," Asharq Alawsat, August 18, 2008.
2. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/02/britain.Hizbullah/index.html
3. Refers to the organization Asaib al Haq (The "Bands of the Righteous")
and Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq that split off from the Mahdi Army.
4. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/15/america/NA-US-Iran-Iraq.php
5. Yaakov Katz, ""Hizbullah Operatives Caught in Baghdad," Jerusalem Post,
August 1, 2008,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331169189&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
6. Matthew Levitt and David Schenker, "Who Was Imad Mughniyeh?" Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, PolicyWatch #1340,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2716
7. Ali Nouri Zadeh, "Imad Mughniyeh: Hezbollah's Phantom," Asharq Alawsat,
August 11, 2006,
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=5964
8.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21764&Itemid=128
9.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&lang=arabic&id=21218
10.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21786&Itemid=128
11.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13845&Itemid=128
12.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&lang=arabic&id=18280,
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13664&Itemid=128,
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13790&Itemid=128,
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/Petraeus-Testimony20070910.pdf
13.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&lang=arabic&id=17514
14.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&lang=arabic&id=17281,
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&lang=arabic&id=14275
15.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13542&Itemid=128
16. http://www.d-sunnah.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7733. The website of the
Hizbullah Brigades in Iraq operated at http://www.alaseb.com and is
currently unavailable.
17. http://www.alaseb.com
18. http://lahdah.com/vb/showthread.php?t=73699
19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/arabic/world_news/newsid_4860000/4860280.stm
20.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=40231&language=ar,
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=42458,
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=40002,
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=40091,
http://www.almanar.com.lb/newssite/EpisodeDetails.aspx?EpisodeID=114&language=ar,
http://www.almanar.com.lb/newssite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=36503&language=ar
21. http://www.naimkassem.net/books/hizb/jihad.htm#3

* * *

Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi is a senior researcher of the Middle East
and radical Islam at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He is a
co-founder with Brian Falkenstein of the Orient Research Group Ltd. and is a
former advisor to the Policy Planning Division of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.

This Jerusalem Issue Brief is available online at:
http://www.jcpa.org

Dore Gold, Publisher; Yaacov Amidror, ICA Chairman; Dan Diker, ICA Director;
Mark Ami-El, Managing Editor. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
(Registered Amuta), 13 Tel-Hai St., Jerusalem, Israel; Tel. 972-2-561-9281,
Fax. 972-2-561-9112, Email: jcpa@netvision.net.il. In U.S.A.: Center for
Jewish Community Studies, 5800 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215; Tel.
410-664-5222; Fax 410-664-1228. Website: www.jcpa.org. © Copyright. The
opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the Board of
Fellows of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

The Institute for Contemporary Affairs (ICA) is dedicated
to providing a forum for Israeli policy discussion and debate.

To subscribe to the Jerusalem Issue Brief list, please go to link:
http://www.list-jcpa.org/brief-sub.html